Roar watching its rear in A-League

Angela Habashy

A-League front-runner Brisbane suffered a rare home loss and now has Western Sydney hot on its tail again.

The Roar lost at Suncorp Stadium for just the second time this season, going down to eighth-placed Adelaide 2-1 on Saturday.

Teenager Jordan Elsey upstaged Brisbane's star striker Besart Berisha to snatch the late victory. In his third appearance off the bench for the Reds, Elsey headed home an injury-time goal to give Adelaide its first win on the road this season.

The Wanderers closed the gap to leaders Roar to four points with their dramatic 1-0 derby victory over Sydney FC.

Former Sky Blue player Brendon Santalab netted the winner at the death to ensure the three points in front of more than 18,000 fans at Pirtek Stadium.

Frank Farina's men slid to seventh place after going four games without a win.

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''It's disappointing to fall out of the six but there's still a lot of football to be played and a lot of twists and turns,'' Farina said.

Western Sydney now faces Melbourne Victory away on Tuesday, when a win will lift it to just one point adrift of top spot.

''We had a fantastic game against Victory a fortnight ago,'' coach Tony Popovic said.

''They scored a great goal to equalise that day and we'll do everything we can to take the three points this time.''

The Victory will be just as determined to get a win after having to settle for a 1-1 draw to Newcastle on Friday.